ALL IN HER HEAD
The Truth and Lies Early Medicine Taught Us About Women’s Bodies and Why It Matters Today
A surprising, groundbreaking, and fiercely entertaining medical history that is both a collective narrative of women’s bodies and a call to action for a new conversation around women’s health.
For as long as medicine has been a practice, women’s bodies have been treated like objects to be practiced on: examined and ignored, idealized and sexualized, shamed, subjugated, mutilated, and dismissed. The history of women’s healthcare is a story in which women themselves have too often been voiceless—a narrative instead written from the perspective of men who styled themselves as authorities on the female of the species,
A surprising, groundbreaking, and fiercely entertaining medical history that is both a collective narrative of women’s bodies and a call to action for a new conversation around women’s health.
For as long as medicine has been a practice, women’s bodies have been treated like objects to be practiced on: examined and ignored, idealized and sexualized, shamed, subjugated, mutilated, and dismissed. The history of women’s healthcare is a story in which women themselves have too often been voiceless—a narrative instead written from the perspective of men who styled themselves as authorities on the female of the species, yet uninformed by women’s own voices, thoughts, fears, pain and experiences. The result is a cultural and societal legacy that continues to shape the (mis)treatment and care of women.
While the modern age has seen significant advancements in the medical field, the notion that female bodies are flawed inversions of the male ideal lingers on—as do the pervasive societal stigmas and lingering ignorance that shape women’s health and relationships with their own bodies.
Memorial Sloan Kettering oncologist and medical historian Dr. Elizabeth Comen draws back the curtain on the collective medical history of women to reintroduce us to our whole bodies—how they work, the actual doctors and patients whose perspectives and experiences laid the foundation for today’s medical thought, and the many oversights that still remain unaddressed. With a physician’s knowledge and empathy, Dr. Comen follows the road map of the eleven organ systems to share unique and untold stories, drawing upon medical texts and journals, interviews with expert physicians, as well as her own experience treating thousands of women.
Empowering women to better understand ourselves and advocate for care that prioritizes healthy and joyful lives— for us and generations to come—All in Her Head is written with humor, wisdom, and deep scientific and cultural insight. Eye-opening, sometimes enraging, yet always captivating, this shared memoir of women’s medical history is an essential contribution to a holistic understanding and much-needed reclaiming of women’s history and bodies.
- Harper Wave
- Hardcover
- February 2024
- 368 Pages
- 9780063293014
Buy the Book
$32
About Elizabeth Comen, MD
Elizabeth Comen, MD, has dedicated her medical career to saving the lives of women. An award-winning, internationally sought-after clinician and physician-scientist, Dr. Comen works as a medical oncologist with a specialty in breast cancer at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and is an assistant professor of medicine at Weill Cornell Medical College. She earned her BA in the history of science from Harvard College and her MD from Harvard Medical School, then completed her residency in Internal Medicine at Mount Sinai Hospital and her fellowship in oncology at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. She lives in New York City with her family.
Praise
“Meticulously researched and conveyed in lucid prose, this fascinates and outrages in equal measure.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“Wow! This book will upend everything you thought you knew about your body while empowering you to make better decisions moving forward. Through storytelling, extensive research, and easy recommendations, Dr. Elizabeth Comen has given us all a priceless road map to reclaim our agency.” —Eve Rodsky, author of Fair Play
“All in Her Head accomplishes a remarkable feat of storytelling. By combining essential medical histories about women’s bodies with all the narrative propulsion of a medical thriller, Comen has written a must-read, compelling, and important book.” —Siddartha Mukherjee, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Emperor of All Maladies and The Song of the Cell
“Dr. Elizabeth Comen has given a priceless gift to women and the medical world, sharing profound insights from her experiences as a physician with touching compassion, empathy, wit, and a fierce determination to improve women’s health and health care. Brava for a book that really matters, that empowers patients to take charge of their health, that challenges healthcare systems to change, and will improve the lives of all who read it!” —Joann E. Manson, MD, DRPH, MACP, chief of the Division of Preventive Medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School
“This book exposes the shocking, infuriating, and heartbreaking medical myths and practices that have haunted the care and treatment of women for millennia–myths about the inherent inferiority and weakness of the female body that are still with us today. All in Her Head is not only personally empowering for women but it’s also a call to reimagine what medicine would look like if we valued what has been left out of our medical system: the high art and skill of caretaking.” —Elizabeth Lesser, cofounder of the Omega Institute and author of Marrow and Cassandra Speaks
Discussion Questions
1. How can women advocate for their health within the healthcare system?
2. How has the field of medicine responded to gender disparities in medical research and treatment outcomes for women?
3. What challenges do female physicians face within the medical profession, and how do these challenges affect patient care?
4. What cultural beliefs or societal norms have influenced the medical treatment of women throughout history?
5. How have historical practices in treating female patients evolved over the years?
6. How does the lack of diversity and representation in medical education impact the treatment of women’s health issues?
7. How did societal attitudes towards the concept of beauty and femininity influence the medical treatment of women’s health issues?
8. In “All in Her Head,” how were women scapegoated for contagion in both medical and larger societal settings?